This puts the release date for WordPress 5.0 less than a month away, on November 19, 2018. With that in mind, this is a great time to talk to your meetup group about Gutenberg, WordPress 5.0, and what people can expect from it all.

As meetup organizers, you are uniquely positioned to help guide your community through what is promising to be a very significant core update. To help prepare your community, share some Gutenberg resources with them, organise a meetup where you demo and discuss the new editor, or gather your community for a work-along so you can learn about the new editor together.

Event Format Spotlight: WordCamp Viewing Party

Many WordCamps stream their content live all over the world, making it a great opportunity to get your local community together to watch it. If you can’t travel to a WordCamp, then the live stream is a great way to share in the content of the event along with other local WordPress enthusiasts.

The basic requirements for hosting a live stream party are an internet connection and a computer. To help you out we have created an event template on meetup.com titled “WordCamp Live Stream Party” — you can use that to create and schedule your event for any WordCamp. Additionally, if you need to rent a venue for a WordCamp viewing party, you can apply for financial assistance by making a Meetup Venue Approval Request.

The next WordCamp that will live streaming their content is WordCamp US coming up on November 7-9. WordCamp US includes Matt Mullenweg’s annual State of the Word address, which is always a treat! Stay tuned to their website for live stream details as they are announced: https://2018.us.wordcamp.org/

Community Deputy Program

Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Here are some useful links about the program: